How does the inclusion of underrepresented groups benefit military health research? How has the shift in basing patterns impacted reservist family culture? What ongoing consequences of sanctioned discrimination remain to be researched? In this episode of Beyond the Battlefield, host Dr. Nicholas Held meets with Dr. Dr. Vince Connelly and Ashley Ibbotson (MA) to discuss the state of research on reservist and 2SLGBTQIA+ military families, the unique differences in reservist family identities, and the lingering impact of the LGBT Purge in Canada.

Your voice matters! Let us know what you thought of this episode: https://bit.ly/49O3fBm

Ashley (Ash) Ibbotson (MA), is a research coordinator with the Trauma and Recovery Research Unit in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurociences at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Her research work has primarily focused on the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ military members and Veterans, and the impacts of military sexual trauma on Canadian military Veterans.

Dr. Vince Connelly is Professor of Psychology and leads the psychology team at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK. His research work currently focuses on the organisational psychology of the Armed Forces. He has also published previously many international works in the field of education and psychology. Professor Connelly’s work on the Armed Forces has an emphasis on the differing personnel components of the Total Defense Force (Whole Force) and how they work together. The research impact of his work on Reserve Forces Integration between 2013 and 2020 was rated as “World Leading” by the UK Government Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2022. He has also investigated the civilian perception of veterans and has explored the crossover of veteran and reservist identity after compulsory service in Israel. His latest book “Contemporary Military Reserves: Between the Civilian and Military Worlds”, jointly edited with Eyal Ben-Ari, was published in 2023. Vince is a long serving British Army Reservist.

Check out Ashley Ibbotson et al.’s research article in JMVFH special edition 10.2, “The strength beside the uniform: Families of military members, Veterans, and public safety personnel”: https://bit.ly/3V2iPUX

Also featured in this special edition: Dr. Vince Connelly et al.’s research article, “Reservist families and their understanding of military welfare support as a (non)military family”: https://bit.ly/3UU7t52

Music Attribution: “Sonora” from Marianas by Quincas Moreira. Music Licensed under a Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beyond the Battlefield is produced by the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research.

How do roles within military and public safety personnel families impact a care partner’s self-perception? How are children impacted by the shift away from military base communities? What inspired the creation of PSPNET Families? In this episode of Beyond the Battlefield, host Dr. Nicholas Held meets with Dr. Rachael Gribble and Dr. Nathalie Reid to discuss recent advances in military and public safety personnel family health research, impactful resources tailored to the unique needs of Veteran and PSP care partners, and the complexity of military and public safety family members’ identities.

Your voice matters! Let us know what you thought of this episode: https://bit.ly/49O3fBm

Dr. Rachael Gribble is a Lecturer in War & Psychiatry at King’s College London, UK. As a mixed methods researcher with a background in public health, the focus of her work is on military families, women’s health and public attitudes to the military, with a primary aim of understanding how occupation influences the well-being of families. Her particular focus is on the health and well-being of partners of UK military personnel and veterans.

While Dr. Nathalie Reid’s research program centers the experiences of educators in conversations around wellbeing in schools, her role as the Director of the Child Trauma Research Centre at the University of Regina has brought her to engage in research in 6 priority areas: child and youth mental health and wellbeing; prevention and intervention with children and youth; educators, education, and students’ mental health and wellbeing in schools; the pre- and-post migration traumas of refugee and immigrant children, youth, and families; climate trauma; and, supporting public safety personnel families. She engages in leading-edge, strength-based, and responsive projects that seek to innovatively engage with, support, and sustain the health and wellbeing of children and youth, as well as those entrusted with their care. She also focuses on innovative knowledge translation and mobilization to ensure that the research serves those for whom it is intended.

Check out Dr. Rachael Gribble (Spikol et al.)’s research article in JMVFH special edition 10.2, “The strength beside the uniform: Families of military members, Veterans, and public safety personnel”: https://bit.ly/3X0D5sm

Also featured in this special edition: Dr. Nathalie Reid et al.’s research article, “PSPNET Families Wellbeing Hub: A preliminary evaluation of online upstream supports for public safety personnel families”: https://bit.ly/3UWZtjQ

Music Attribution: “Sonora” from Marianas by Quincas Moreira. Music Licensed under a Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beyond the Battlefield is produced by the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research.

How do children and care partners fit into the military and Veteran family research landscape? What does a carer or care partner look like in a military family? How are children impacted by a parent’s service? In this episode of Beyond the Battlefield, host Dr. Nicholas Held meets with Dr. Dr. Marg Rogers and Dr. Dannielle Post to discuss how changes in military culture have impacted the role of children, knowledge translation tactics improving the lives of families, and international advancements within the field of military family research.

Your voice matters! Let us know what you thought of this episode: https://bit.ly/49O3fBm

Dr. Dannielle Post (Program Director: Bachelor of Health Science (Public Health), University of South Australia) is a senior lecturer who holds a PhD, Master of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Medical Science, with additional post-graduate training in public health research and evaluation. Dannielle conducts research and teaching within the field of public health, including, health promotion, determinants of health, and program design, implementation, and evaluation. Her research investigates the physical and psychological health and wellbeing of family carers, in particular family care-partners of Veterans. Dannielle has been involved in a number of studies assessing the physical and psychological well-being and support needs of carers of Veterans, and the effectiveness of UniSA’s Invictus Pathways Program. Dannielle is an Australian Mental Health Leaders Fellow (Cohort 3, 2019-2020), a member of the Executive Committee of the Public Health Association of Australia (SA Branch), an ARENA Member, and a member of the WAVES/Invictus Pathways Program Executive.

Dr. Marg Rogers is a Senior Lecturer of Early Childhood Education at the University of New England and a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Commonwealth Government funded Manna Institute that aims to improve the mental health of regional, rural and remote communities. Marg is a participatory and narrative researcher who researches with lived experience community members. As a children's author, she weaves these narratives into research-based storybooks for children to provide a springboard for discussions with parents, educators and family workers about difficult topics, such as parents working away, or those with service-related physical and mental health conditions. Specifically, she researches ways to support the wellbeing of military, first responder and remote worker families. As the lead for the Children's Family Resilience Programs team, Marg has worked to co-design and co-create award winning, online, free, early intervention supports for potentially vulnerable children from Defence, Veteran, First Responder and Remote Worker families.

Check out Dr. Marg Rogers et al.’s research article in JMVFH special edition 10.2, “The strength beside the uniform: Families of military members, Veterans, and public safety personnel”: https://bit.ly/3WFXqTO

Also featured in this special edition: Dr. Dannielle Post et al.’s research article, “Understanding the emotional and practical support needs of family care-partners of Veterans to promote well-being”: https://bit.ly/4dIlo6R

Music Attribution: “Sonora” from Marianas by Quincas Moreira. Music Licensed under a Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beyond the Battlefield is produced by the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research.